Skier visits at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area rose 9% this past season compared to the previous winter but remain significantly lower than when the ski area was on the Epic Pass, COO Alan Henceroth said in his 2023 State of the Basin blog post.

This 2022-2023 winter season, skier visits reached only 75% of what they were during the 2018-2019 season, a time when Arapahoe Basin was last on the Epic Pass, Henceroth wrote. This year’s number of visits helped the ski area remain within its comfortable carrying capacity, Henceroth said.

The 2022-2023 season at Arapahoe Basin started early with an October opening, though the completion of the new Lenawee Express was five weeks late. Those first few weeks were a “tricky period, slow with guest visits and crazy difficult with final lift construction,” Henceroth wrote. Lenawee opened mid-December.

This season also marked the first time since 2020 that the COVID-19 pandemic did not play a major role, Henceroth wrote. There was plenty of A+ skiing this, he said, making it a little hard to believe that snowfall was a little below average this year.

With an overhauled employee compensation and housing plan in place, Arapahoe Basin remained fully staffed all season, Henceroth said. Both the Steilhang Hut and Il Rifugio had their first full seasons since recent construction and remodeling, he wrote.

Meanwhile, of the 204 days the ski area was open prior to April 30, there were nine days when parking became a challenge, Henceroth said. Parking is the ski area’s best measure of whether ski visits remain within a comfortable carrying capacity, he said.

A major goal for the upcoming season is to reduce the number of days when parking becomes a challenge, Henceroth said. Arapahoe Basin will continue to limit daily ticket sales and limit Ikon Pass visits to 5 or 7 days, he said.

The ski area will also limit season pass sales and has added the Value Pass for next season to drive people away from the busiest days, Henceroth wrote. Expansion of employee parking carpool programs and the continuation of the Early Riser Lot carpool or pay parking program should also help, he said.